Capital for Change, Inc. v. Board of Assessment Appeals

Citations

• 215 Conn. App. 681

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed to the trial court from the decision by the defendant board of assessment appeals upholding the denial of the plaintiff's appli- cation for a charitable organization real property tax exemption pursuant to statute (§ 12-81 (7)). The plaintiff, a tax-exempt charitable organiza- tion for federal tax purposes, used the subject property to engage in commercial lending, consumer lending, loan servicing and third-party contract administration. The plaintiff provided to developers and home- owners financial services, inter alia, to improve and increase the supply of affordable housing and, through a subsidiary, contracted with utility companies to administer energy efficient loan programs. The trial court rendered judgment dismissing the appeal from the board's decision, and the plaintiff appealed to this court, claiming that the trial court improperly concluded that, because it is not organized exclusively and the property is not used exclusively for charitable purposes, the property is not tax-exempt pursuant to § 12-81 (7). Held that the trial court prop- erly dismissed the plaintiff's appeal from the board's decision: pursuant to § 12-81 (7) and as required by the test set forth in Isaiah 61:1, Inc. v. Bridgeport (270 Conn. 69), and further explicated in St. Joseph's Living Center, Inc. v. Windham (290 Conn. 695), for a property to receive a charitable tax-exempt status, it must be owned by or be held in trust for a corporation organized exclusively for charitable purposes and used exclusively for carrying out one or more of such purposes, and the undisputed evidence demonstrated that the subject property was not used exclusively for charitable purposes as the plaintiff's activities involved in administering energy efficient loan programs at the subject property, including marketing, intake and processing of applications, reporting to investors, and collecting delinquent accounts for utility companies, benefited consumers, commercial entities and